le cimetière des éléphants
by Slytherin Cat
Summary: 'Once upon a time, there were dragons, and a man who once was a child and believed in magic.' Or in which Charlie grows up hearing stories of dragons, leaves to explore the world and meets the man of his dreams when he's not even looking. AU, CharlieDraco, for Sam.


For Sam, who wanted a CharlieDraco. I hope you like it.

Please review.

_Word count :_ 1588

**le cimetière des éléphants**

**o.**

All of his mother's stories begin with 'Once upon a time, there were dragons', because dragons are the best thing in the whole world, and if something as impossible as life exists, then surely dragons do too.

Charlie can tell that his mother doesn't believe, but that's fine, really, because his mother's a grown-up, and grown-ups don't believe in magic.

He may love his mother, but she just can't see things the way he does, and she thinks dragons never even existed.

She doesn't see the way the sky burns with fire every year on the same dates in winter, and she doesn't hear the whispers on the wind when spring comes.

But Charlie does – he sees everything, he feels the way the world lives, and he knows that there is something more out there.

**i.**

'_Once upon a time, there were dragons, and they were the fiercest creatures to have ever walked this Earth. They were as tall as the tallest trees, and possessed wisdom far beyond anything humans could ever truly apprehend._

_Their wealth came in soft gold and glittering jewels, in harsh silver and shining stones._

_They were the Guardians of this world, and one day they left it to us.'_

**ii.**

The Weasleys live near a forest. In a world where technology means power and power means freedom, it's rare to see a forest still mostly untamed, but this one is.

It has no name, and Charlie hopes it never will, because as long as it doesn't have a name then it means it's still wild.

When he's not working, his father teaches him how to find his way through the trees and where to find water, and every time he can he slips from his mother's grasp and runs through the woods like he has wings on his back.

He hides in caves and climbs on trees, and pretends to be a pirate, or an explorer or an astronaut.

Sometimes, he even pretends to be a wizard; that the voices on the winds are the voices of fairies no one can see because the world has forgotten how to look for them and that if he can just find where to go he'll find dragons again.

He has a backpack hidden underneath his bed ready for the day he'll find a clue – any clue – of where to look for the magic in this world, and he dreams of adventures in the shadow of wings.

He goes to school with Bill every day, because he has to and because Bill is the most awesome brother ever since he always sneaks him chocolate when he's punished.

He doesn't have any friends though, not really, but it's not so bad because who needs friends when they can have magic?

**iii.**

'_Once upon a time, they were dragons. They lived in mountains of ice and could breathe fire hotter than the sun, flew among the stars and walked upon the Earth like any man would._

_Their scales were harder than rock and their minds sharper than diamonds._

_They fought against darkness, but one day they gave us their light and faded away.'_

**iv.**

When Charlie dreams, he dreams in colors – the colors of a hundred worlds he would never see.

He closes his eyes, and he would have magic, be able to fly and fight in wars that would never happen.

He would be a hero in his dreams and a villain in his nightmares.

In his nightmares the sun goes out and the world turns dark, all cold and empty, and he burns it to the ground until nothing remains anymore.

And then a dragon roars and he wakes up, a scream still echoing in his ears and a name on his lips he doesn't know.

He gets the urge to wander around the world on those nights, because it has to be a sign, but he's not stupid and he knows he can't leave his family now. He's too young, it wouldn't work.

So instead he gets up from his bed and sits by his window. He watches stars shoot through the dark sky and he tries not to wake up his brothers, and he wonders when he'll actually understand why he's fascinated by creatures no one else believes in.

**v.**

'_Once upon a time, there were dragons. When free they were the best thing that ever happened to the world but then the darkness caught one and twisted it until nothing of its light remained, until all that was left was darkness, fear and pain._

_There was a battle, or maybe there were a hundred, and when the war ended so much blood had been shed that they couldn't stand staying there._

_They left and we had to deal with the aftermath.'_

**vi.**

One day, Charlie wakes up and realizes he's not a child anymore.

It's a bittersweet feeling – it kind of hurts to realize he has to get a job and has responsibilities, but then he also has been taking care of his little brothers for years when their parents were too busy, so it's not exactly a new thing.

He finds an ad for a humanitarian mission in Asia, and that's how he knows that growing up hasn't stopped him from dreaming.

It's perfect – he can help those who need it while travelling all around the world. Maybe that way he'll finally find the clue he's looking for.

Even if his mother wishes he would stay in England with her, he thinks she must have known somewhere deep inside her mind that he couldn't stay here forever.

It was in the way he could never stand still, in the way his eyes always stared at the rolling clouds when they drove to London.

It is in the way his mind always wanders back to dragons and the name he has on the tip of his tongue – the name that means everything but that he can never quite remember.

Because it has to mean something – all of it, it has to be more than crazy dreams and voices on the wind.

**vii.**

'_Once upon a time, there were dragons. The world was theirs and they were the world's. They were said to have been able to talk with the wind and reshape the earth, to see time long gone in the water and control fire._

_Then mankind came and dragons were no longer needed as much. They were seen less and less until it had been centuries since the last sighting; and dragons became a legend, and then a fairytale told to children at night._

_Their powers were passed on to humans who deserved them and no one ever saw a dragon again._

_But rumor has it that they're still somewhere out there, waiting for better days.'_

**viii.**

He meets Draco in London, when he comes back from China and goes to visit his family. It's a pure coincidence, but the blonde man knocks him over with his bike and insists on buying him a drink to apologize.

Draco's arrogant, somewhat mad and he can be an utter arse, but he's also incredibly clever and very, very nice to look at, even if he's six years younger than Charlie is.

As Draco himself says it though, they're both major, Charlie's parents don't care who he dates and apparently Draco's ignore him on their best days, so as long as it doesn't bother him, then it's fine.

It doesn't. Being with Draco, as harsh as he can be sometimes - especially when he hasn't had his coffee in the morning - makes his heart feel bigger and warmer.

He ends up staying in London much longer than he had planned to, but eventually he has to leave, no matter how much he doesn't want to leave for what is perhaps the first time in his life.

Charlie has to leave however, but he'll come back. He swears he will and Draco sees him off to the airport, and tells him that when he'll come back from 'whatever backwater country you'll try to bury yourself in', he'll introduce him to his family.

Charlie laughs, and tries not to pretend that the kiss they share doesn't feel like goodbye.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. I'll see you then."

Draco smirks, and ten minutes later Charlie is on a plane toward Brazil.

**ix.**

'_Once upon a time, there were dragons, and people believed in them. And one day, people stopped believing so the dragons stopped showing themselves - or maybe no one could see them anymore._

_They left, and the world forgot them, but for those few children who want to believe in magic._

_Once upon a time, there was a child who became a man and believed in dragons and happily-ever-afters. A child who could hear the voice of the wind and a man who looked for dragons and found another man instead._

_A child who believed in magic and a man who had seen that life could very well be magical on its own.'_

**x.**

Draco shows up exactly thirteen days later, and Charlie has never been so happy to see anyone in his entire life.

It's almost strange really, he thinks the next morning in his bed, that he found what he was looking for on the only day when he hadn't been looking for it.

But maybe that is life after all – finding what you need when you need it and not when you want it.


End file.
